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With all due respect to the success Cuonzo Martin and John Beilein brought to the respective schools, the bar-stool conversations between these fanbases in Indianapolis will circle back to football before Tennessee and Michigan meet in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Friday.

They'll sing endless choruses of "Rocky Top" and "The Victors,” but it won't resolve the ongoing identity crisis for their football teams.

You see, Michigan and Tennessee are kindred cousins; name-brand old money that will never lose the following or the forever-unrealistic expectations. They have, however, lost the stability former coaches Lloyd Carr and Phillip Fulmer maintained for most of the BCS era.

Carr and Fulmer faced constant criticism for being too stale, too slow and too boring. Carr and Fulmer played the national championship card — Michigan in 1997 and Tennessee in 1998 — a card that depreciated with each loss to the Ohio State and Florida. Carr and Fulmer both were ditched after four straight losses to their rival.

Both schools went hipster. Rich Rodriguez. Lane Kiffin. Same difference. It's 20/20 hindsight, but one has to wonder if Rodriguez were given a little more time and Kiffin opted to stay, where would these programs be in the next golden age of offense?

Both schools panicked and opted for neutral instead. Brady Hoke is in Year 4 at Michigan, and Butch Jones starts Year 2 after the two-year Derek Dooley experiment. Hoke and Jones aren't anywhere close to chasing national championships. At this point, they're chasing Carr and Fulmer. It's that you've-gotta-go-forward-to-go-back philosophy only Willy Wonka could understand.

In six years since Carr retired, Michigan ranks 56th in the FBS with a 41-35 record. Half of that is on Hoke, who is 26-13 and inherited the 15-22 mess left by Rodriguez. Tennessee plays in a conference where that kind of spill isn't forgiven. Kiffin, Dooley and Butch Jones combined for a 28-34 record the past five seasons.

Start the cleanup in conference play. That's straight Carr and Fulmer, and it works.

The Wolverines haven't won a Big Ten championship since 2004 and are 21-27 in Big Ten play the last six years. Carr lost just 23 Big Ten games in 13 years. The Volunteers are 11-29 in SEC play since 2009. Fulmer went 95-34 from 1992-2008. That's where Carr and Fulmer were always underappreciated.

At least both schools are making the effort. Michigan brought in Doug Nussmeier from Alabama to revive an offense that has just one 1,000-yard running back since Carr left. Jones brought in a top-five recruiting class for 2014 and is off to another hot start for 2015. There's always talent, tradition and resources to work with.

But it takes wins, and they won't come easy in 2014. Michigan faces road dates at Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State. The Wolverines are 1-8 on the road against those rivals since Carr retired, and Hoke is 0-4.

Tennessee is 3-12 against Georgia, Florida and South Carolina post-Fulmer. They face all those teams with Alabama mixed in over a six-game stretch.

Hoke and Jones have to deliver here and now, or the same fanbases who found a way to push Fulmer and Carr out will move on the same 'ol names. Jim Harbaugh. Jon Gruden. You'll hear those names on the barstools, too. That doesn't solve anything either.

Friday is a feel-good tease for the fans, and it's a model football needs to follow. Martin and Beilein have given impressive makeovers. Tennessee erased the memories of Bruce Pearl's unceremonious exit. Beilein won two Big Ten championships and made a Final Four the last three seasons — a run that produced more banners than the Fab Five.

Of course, Final Fours are welcomed anywhere, but it's accepted that charting a course for the inaugural College Football Playoff next fall would mean 10 times more in Knoxville and Ann Arbor. Maybe they should take a few notes from the nightcap with Louisville and Kentucky. The coaches win. The fans will never have a case of mistaken identity. That's a "basketball school." It's easy to see why.

They understand the fight songs, stadiums and traditions will always be there. You have to bring something new to the table — and that might just bring more championship trophies to go with it.